Effects of differential pretraining on learning-set formation in rhesus monkeys.

Compared the rate of learning-set formation by 4 rhesus monkeys that had previously been pretrained on the win-stay component of the learning-set strategy (Group WS) to the rate evidenced by 4 others that had pretraining on the lose-shift component (Group LS). Differences between groups were small, and asymptotic levels were below those previously obtained by monkeys without pretraining. The negative transfer resulted from generalized tendencies to perseverate or shift (Groups WS and LS, respectively), regardless of response outcome. The former tendency dissipated relatively rapidly, while the latter persisted very markedly throughout the 400-problem learning-set series. It is noted that learning-set formation requires a balance between the win-stay and lose-shift components; however, the optimal ratio is unknown. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)